No plan to remove 'socialist', 'secular' from Constitution: Govt informs RS

The Central government has no current plan or intention to reconsider or remove socialist or secular from the Constitution, nor have any proceedings been initiated for the same, government has informed the Rajya Sabha.

Responding to a question by Rajya Sabha MP Ramji Lal Suman, the Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal stated in a written reply on Thursday that "the government's official stand is that there is no current plan or intention to reconsider or remove the words "socialism" and secularism" from the preamble of the Constitution".

"Any discussions regarding amendments to the preamble would require thorough deliberation and broad consensus, but as of now, the government has not initiated any formal process to change these provisions," Meghwal added.

The Union Minister mentioned that the Supreme Court has already affirmed the validity of 42nd Constitutional amendment in 1976, which inserted the words socialist and secular in the preamble.

"In November 2024, the Supreme Court of India in the case of Dr Balram Singh and others Vs Union of India and another's, the Court has also dismissed petitions challenging the 1976 amendment (42nd Constitutional Amendment), affirming that Parliament's power to amend the Constitution extends to the Preamble. The Court clarified that "socialism" in the India context signifies a welfare state and does not impede private sector growth, while "secularism" is integral in the Constitution's basic structure," Meghwal said in the reply.

He said that while certain office bearers of social organizations have expressed their opinions to remove the words to create public discourse, this has not changed the official stance of the government.

Referring to the statements of office bearers of certain social organisations, he stated, "Regarding the atmosphere created by office bearers of some social organisations, it is possible that certain groups are expressing opinions or advocating for reconsideration of these words. Such activities can create a public discourse or atmosphere around the issue, but do not necessarily reflect the official stance or actions of the government," he added.

In June earlier, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale had said that terms like "Socialism" and "Secularism" were forcibly inserted into the Constitution -- a move that needs to be reconsidered.

The RSS leader was addressing a program on the 50th anniversary of the Emergency held at Dr Ambedkar International Centre, jointly organised by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (under the Ministry of Culture), where he said that the Emergency imposed on the country on June 25, 1975 was the "biggest blow to Indian democracy."

The comments were later criticised by several Opposition leaders.